The Faith of Enoch The Bible tells us that, "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not

see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." (Heb. 11:5 NAS) Enoch and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) were the only two men to ever be born and not die a physical death. Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven after a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated him from Elisha his traveling companion and the one appointed to take his place as a prophet of God. Of Enoch we only know the Bible says he was taken up. How we are not told. Very little is known about Enoch and his life. We know he was the father of Methuselah (Gen. 5:21) who was the oldest man to ever live as far as we know dying at the age of 969 (Gen. 5:27) and that he was the great grandfather of Noah (see Gen. 5:21-29). We also know that Enoch was a prophet of God in the seventh generation from Adam (Jude 14) and that he is found in the genealogy of Christ on Joseph's side in Luke 3 (see Luke 3:23-38, especially verse 37). So little is known about Enoch we can quote all the Bible has to say about him in the passages that follow along with the passage quoted above. "And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." (Gen. 5:21-24 NAS) "And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'" (Jude 14-15 NAS) What can we learn from these passages? To be more specific what can we learn about the faith of Enoch? The answer is more than is first apparent. The Hebrew writer in Heb. 11:5 tells us "by faith Enoch was taken up." (NAS) Paul tells us "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17 NKJV) The NAS (New American Standard) translation has "word of Christ" here rather than "word of God" but it is hard to see that that makes any difference in view of the fact that Jesus is the Word (see John 1:1,14) and the Word was God (John 1:1). Enoch's faith then had to be, as does that of all men, based on God's word. By that I mean he had to have heard from God to have faith (Rom. 10:17). We do not know how much God communicated his will to those of ancient times, preflood days in the case of Enoch, but we know enough to know from Rom. 1:18-21 that man was "without excuse" (Rom. 1:20 NAS) as it relates to sin and we know man was sinning. Man had grown wicked in pre-flood days. "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. 6:5 NAS)

Jude makes clear that Enoch's prophesy, as recorded in Jude 14 and 15, is applicable to those living in Jude's day but when you read it you readily see it was not meant just for those of that specific time period. When the Lord comes again he is going to execute judgment not just on those of Jude's day but "upon all" which is exactly what the text says as you begin reading verse 15 and he is going to convict "all the ungodly" no matter when they lived. This has application for you and me living today but also for all those going back to Enoch's time and before. Man had enough knowledge of God in Enoch's time, and before and afterwards, to live in a way that would have pleased God. It is clear Enoch was a prophet for Jude quotes him as such and therefore he was an inspired man. Perhaps God used prophets in those early days to communicate his will to early man. Luke 1:70 and Acts 3:21 both indicate that there have been prophets since the beginning of time (see KJV or NKJV, see also Luke 11:50 in any version). If you read Luke 11:49-51 you see Abel being listed as a prophet (something I myself learned in researching this piece having overlooked it for years). The point that needs to be made then is that Enoch knew God's will. He heard the words of God and indeed spoke them as a prophet. His faith was in God by means of what God spoke to him which is to say as Paul said "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom. 10:17 NKJV) God spoke and Enoch believed. Without word from God Enoch could only have known that God existed, that he had great power, knowledge, and understanding. But we can learn even more from the few scriptures we have on Enoch. It is said Enoch pleased God (Heb. 11:5) and Enoch "walked with God." (Gen. 5:24 NASU) To please God one must walk with God. How does one do that? The Bible tells us that Zacharias and Elizabeth, his wife, the parents of John the Baptist, "were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord." (Luke 1:6 NASU) Zacharias and Elizabeth lived under the Law of Moses, Enoch did not. That aside how could Enoch please God the way he did and walk with God, which the Bible says he did, unless he obeyed the commands God gave him just the same as Zacharias and Elizabeth did? Someone might object and say he walked by faith. Certainly he did but how does one walk by faith? Is it possible for a man to walk by faith while actively and willfully disobeying God? I cannot walk with God unless I have determined to go down the road he leads me down. If on that road he says stop (gives a command) I must obey it. If he says turn right I must turn right. If he says slow down I must slow down. In other words I cannot walk with God if I do not allow him to lead me and me follow along in accord with his directions or put another way his commands. Faith in God, the Old Testament often calls this trust, manifests itself in obedience. Years after Enoch the children of Israel were given the Promised Land but the generation who were originally set to receive it, those who came out of Egyptian bondage led by Moses, were not able to enter in and why not? Because they were not

willing to obey and enter in and fight for the land even with God assuring them of victory. And why were they not willing? Because of a lack of faith. "And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief." (Heb. 3:18-19 NAS) If you will turn to this passage and read it in context you see clearly that this is a direct reference to the children of Israel and their failure to enter into the Promised Land. The passage teaches us that faith would have led to obedience just as a lack of faith (unbelief) led to disobedience. So what is the point? It is this--faith and obedience to God's commands cannot be separated. When one is unwilling to obey God or just is negligent in doing so it is a manifestation of a lack of what the Bible calls faith or belief. If we really believed strongly enough that God said what he meant and meant what he said we would not be hesitant to obey but would obey readily and promptly. In doing so we would be walking with God and pleasing God as Enoch did. Much of Christendom is today guilty of disbelief while calling it faith. Faith is more than just what is in your mind. The faith that leads to one's salvation is coupled with obedience and cannot be uncoupled. You obey because you believe, you disobey because you disbelieve or just do not believe strongly enough to obey. Now what is it that must be believed if one is to walk with God? Eve believed the serpent's fairy tale, his lie, his deception. One cannot just believe anything and everything. The apostle John, in 2 John 4, tells us what we need to believe. "I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father." (2 John 1:4 NASU) One must believe the truth if one is to walk in the truth, as John says we are commanded to do, thus what must be believed is the truth. Why will men perish? The answer is "because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved." (2 Thess. 2:10 NASU) Jesus in his John 17 prayer to the Father said, "Thy word is truth." (John 17:17 KJV) When the Bible says Enoch walked with God do you think he walked in truth? John says just a little later, "And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments." (2 John 1:6 NASU) Do you think Enoch walked with God without walking according to the commandments God gave him? Do you think it would even be possible to walk with God without walking according to his commandments? Does not this passage teach that without commandment keeping there is no love? I do not know how it could be made any plainer. Many complain that strictness on commandment keeping is legalism, an attempt to be saved by works. John teaches it is love. Who are you going to believe? I know who we need to believe. The point is not that Enoch was a perfect commandment keeper or law keeper for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23 NASU) and "there is none righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10 NASU) but it is rather that one cannot walk with God, or walk or live by faith, without believing enough in God to believe he knows best, better than you or me, and thus trust him enough to make a genuine good faith effort to obey him thus manifesting our faith in him. It is simply letting God be God and letting

him be the ruler and taking our rightful place as bond servants of his. We obey because our faith leads us to that. Only then has God become in our hearts the God that lives in the heart. Only then does he rule within us. Until such a time as we are willing to obey we remain a rebel against God. That Enoch was not. So the truth is we can know quite a bit more about Enoch and his faith than what first appears to be the case with a quick once over reading. We too ought to try and please God and walk with God just as Enoch did lest we fall into the camp of those he prophesied against--the ungodly who do ungodly deeds or put another way, the disobedient.